The National Police Research Platform (the Platform) is a long-term project designed to collect systematic data about individual police officers, supervisors, and organizations over time and to help document excellence in policing. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Platform is expected to advance scientific knowledge and lead to improvements in police organizations that will directly benefit law enforcement personnel and the communities they serve. Through rigorous and standardized data collection and timely feedback to agencies, the Platform promotes evidence-based learning within the policing field and contributes to the continued professionalization of law enforcement.

The Waterloo Police Department has been selected to participate in a three-year study conducted by the Platform to promote organizational excellence in law enforcement. A total of 100 agencies have been selected for this study. They were chosen from nearly 18,000 agencies nationwide. This group of selected agencies will receive considerable national attention over next three years as the Platform is rolled out as a model of how police science can help to guide and improve police practices.

The Platform study will examine two key components of organizational behavior; internal and external indicators. They will do this through agency records, as well as surveys of police employees and community members.

The Platform indicated that by involvement in this study, the benefits to the City of Waterloo will be tangible. They also indicated they are confident that this initiative will place the Waterloo Police Department on the cutting edge of innovation in the law enforcement field.